Dr Makgoba: Elder ought to lead South Africa

SOUTH AFRICA must be dominated by a revered elder, main a authorities of nationwide unity till the following election, if President Ramaphosa loses the political assist of his get together, the Archbishop of Cape Town, Dr Thabo Makgoba, has stated. The President is accused of stashing an enormous sum of overseas foreign money in a settee on his sport farm, then protecting up its theft (News, 17 June). He has denied any wrongdoing. In a press release final week, Archbishop Makgoba stated that nobody must be above the legislation, “but to pass final judgement on a person based on what is in effect a board of preliminary investigation, which has not made a final determination of the facts, could lead to lawlessness.” He continued: “If the President loses the political support of his party before a final determination of his conduct is made, I call for the establishment of a government of national unity under a respected elder to stabilise the country until the next election.” The African National Congress “seems to be in meltdown”, he stated, and instructed that South Africans have been changing into impatient with a governing get together “at war with itself”.

Canadian National Indigenous Archbishop elected

THE subsequent National Indigenous Archbishop within the Anglican Church of Canada and Presiding Elder of the Sacred Circle is to be the Bishop of Saskatoon, the Rt Revd Christopher A. Harper, it was introduced this week. He succeeds the Most Revd Mark MacDonald, who resigned in April over allegations of sexual misconduct (News, 22 April).

Bishop-elect of Florida humiliated, he says

THE Bishop-elect of Florida, the Revd Charlie Holt, has stated that he stays dedicated to the diocese, regardless of the “humiliation” of a second formal problem to his election. “I cannot think of anything else in my life that has forced me to my knees to crawl under the altar of Calvary as this process has done,” he wrote in an electronic mail to the diocese on Monday, referring to his pilgrimage to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. “It has been a true humiliation in every sense of that word.” His first election was nullified after months of disputes over the method (News, 28 October). He was re-elected in November (News, 25 November), when additional objection was filed on comparable grounds.

KELLY LATIMOREThe portrait of the late Matthew ShepardWashington portrait of hate-crime sufferer unveiled

WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL has unveiled a specifically commissioned portrait of Matthew Shepard, the homosexual faculty scholar whose homicide in 1998 sparked a nationwide outcry towards homophobic violence. The portrait by the Episcopalian iconographer Kelly Latimore, commissioned by LGBTQ+ members of the cathedral employees, was unveiled on Thursday of final week, which might have been Mr Shepard’s forty sixth birthday. It is on show within the crypt, the place his ashes have been interred in 2018, 20 years after his demise.

Rishi Sunak urged to behave over East Africa famine

THE Prime Minister should act now to assist stop a humanitarian disaster in East Africa, three former International Development Secretaries and the heads of UK assist companies, together with Christian Aid, have advised him. In a joint letter, they wrote: “East Africa is facing a catastrophic hunger crisis caused by one of the worst droughts in living memory.” The area was in “a famine in all but name. Despite the rapidly mounting death toll, the international response is woefully underfunded, and the UK has failed to do its bit.” The UK has confirmed an allocation of £156 million for East Africa in 2022, which, the letter says, is lower than one fifth (18 per cent) of the £861 million supplied in 2017 over the past starvation disaster within the area. Christian Aid’s chief govt, Patrick Watt, stated: “East Africa must not be forgotten. It is past time that government ministers lived up to their responsibility.”